Instead of being home for the holidays, 500 college students will spend Christmas break with Ron Paul

Rather than relaxing for the holidays after finishing up their exams, roughly 500 college-aged young people are expected to spend Christmas break working for Rep. Ron Paul.

As part of the “Christmas Vacation with Ron Paul” program, the Texan’s presidential campaign is deploying troops of young activists to Iowa and New Hampshire where they will be knocking on doors and making phone calls in attempts to rally voters. And he’s asking his nationwide legion of supporters to help pick up the costs of the 76-year-old congressman’s college brigade.

“I firmly believe the next generation needs us to fix our problems now, so there will be a great country left to give them,” Paul wrote in an email to his legion of youth supporters.

With ‘Youth for Ron Paul‘ chapters stationed at college campuses across the country, Paul is building his army of young people to mobilize voters. Cornell University, the Ivy League school in upstate New York, boasts having over 1,370 members in their chapter.

Paul’s campaign estimates the holiday activist surge will cost them $600,000, or roughly “a bargain” of $45 per student.

“Although this program is very cost-effective, it still costs money. And that is something our campaign will need much, much more of in the coming weeks,” Paul said.

In the most recent Real Clear Politics average of polls in the Iowa Republican presidential caucus, Paul is fourth with 13 percent, behind former Speaker Newt Gingrich (24 percent), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and businessman Herman Cain (tied at 15.8 percent).

Paul is looking to the youth to bridge that gap.

“In this critical election, a well organized youth campaign could be the difference between winning and losing a key early primary or caucus state,” Youth for Ron Paul’s recruitment website reads.